Description

Obura-Wonenara District is not far from Goroka, and lies in the eastern highlands of the country. This coffee comes from a delivery station in the district, a collector who is set up to buy coffee from neighbors in the highland areas, altitudes ranging from 1700 - 1900 meters above sea level. The dominant cultivars in the region are old Typica types, and the coffee is fully wet processed. The sorted coffee looks beautiful, much of the defects hand-picked while the coffee is in wet parchment, and picked through again after being hulled of the thin parchment layer post drying. The few roasts we did looked very even coming out of the roaster, only a couple partial quakers in the bunch.

Obura-Wonenara has a butter and sugar sweetness that carries through the aromatic profile and into the cup, dried fruit accents noted all along the way. With hot water added, the sweet smells run the range of caramelizing sugars to fruit filling (like a date bar), and a wood-like aromatic cedar note comes up in the steam. The cup flavors are in line with this description, impressive raw sugar sweetness providing a solid base to the cup profile, moving into fruited highlights as the cup cools. A City+ roast yields a high level of sweetness when brewed, and fruited notes like black fig, and plum add to the overall picture. This coffee brews great at City+ roast level, a harmonious mesh of rustic sweetness and fruit notes, with an aroma of wet cedar chips. Full City roast level adds a smokey cocoa layer to the mix, with fruit and bittersweetness still very much intact.